


Amaranth

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Canon-Typical Violence, Courtship, King Derek Hale, King Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Magic, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Sterek Bingo 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-31 23:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10909839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: With Allison Argent's upcoming marriage to a Morrigan- one of the most influential figures in the land- Derek, the Hale King, knows that he must marry someone soon to keep from the Argents claiming his throne, but no matter who he marries, with Allison wedding a Morrigan, his family's reign is in jeopardy... that is, ofcourse, but for one exception: The White Stag, the King of Kings





	Amaranth

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of wanted to make this longer and more detailed, include more about the history of White Stags and more of the Sterek courting but... hopefully it's good enough as it is ^^;

"How much longer are you going to drag your feet on this?"

The king glanced up from the scrolls he was staring at, eyebrows raising curiously at the woman in front of him

"I'm pretty sure I'm addressing the scrolls I received this morning right now Erica,"

She seemed utterly and completely unamused

"I MEAN about marriage, you know you can't stall on this forever, especially with the Argent girl already engaged,"

Derek fell quiet for a few moments, eyes slowly casting upwards from the pages beneath him

"She's engaged now?"

"To the Morrigan no less,"

Derek cursed under his breath, claws starting to peirce through his nailbeds as he struggled not to shift, the last thing he needed was to let that take over for him...

"I see you're able to tell EXACTLY how bad of a situation this is?"

"I never doubted how bad this situation is Erica,"

"Then you need to stop dragging your feet and find a suitable mate, Derek you're the last remaining Hale who's eligible for the throne, you know your sister and your cousin aren't possible so it's all on you, if you die without an heir the throne will be handed to the Argents on a silver platter and I know you don't want that,"

"Ofcourse I don't,"

"Then hurry, Allison's engagement is going to cement her place as queen, now you need to do the same as the king,"

He knew she was right, but... he was frustrated and unsure

He didn't want to marry a stranger, he didn't even want to be king but... he didn't have any choice in the matter, he couldn't let the Argents claim the Hale throne- end of story

"So... she's engaged to the Morrigan then?"

"That's right,"

Derek sighed heavily, moving to sit down in the chair behind him and rubbing at his head

"Where do we go from here?"

"Well, we organize a ball or something inviting every eligible king, queen, prince, and princess to attend, surely you'll have to find ONE of them atleast tolerable, the sooner we marry you off the better,"

Derek cursed under his breath, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his eyes tiredly

"But because Allison is marrying a Morrigan it matters little who I marry, the Argents are going to have the upper hand on us for good now, one slight error, one wrong move, and the throne is gone,"

Derek didn't actually care about the throne himself, and in fact, he had never wanted to be king to begin with, but giving his territory to the Argents was like giving a hitman a license to kill

Derek had to protect his kingdom- his territory, his people...

He had to protect what little he had left in this world and he couldn't hand it over to the Argents just because he wasn't in the mood for a romance right now

"True, but it's certainly better than nothing, Allison is cementing her place on the throne with this marriage and you need to cement your's too, especially considering how vulnerable this family is,"

"Still... is there anyone I could marry who would be on level with a Morrigan?"

"Just another Morrigan," Erica replied with a sigh, moving to sit on the edge of the table in front of the king and thinking for a moment

"I mean, other than a White Stag that is,"

Derek paused, staring up at his head advisor and raising his eyebrows

"A White Stag...."

"Right, AKA practically the King of Kings, it doesn't matter who you are, you marry the Stag and you have reign over pretty much anything, hell even a peasant would become a king if they married a Stag,"

"A peasant... or a questionable royal...."

Erica's eyebrows raised, tilting her head to the side

"Are you thinking... what I THINK you're thinking?"

"If we can track down the Stag, Cora or Malia could marry him and not have their reign contested, our family line would be stable again and in actual good hands instead of mine, plus we'd have the upper hand from the Argents,"

"Not to mention, that would give the Stag THREE choices for potential mates instead of just one, and since the Argents have already announced Allison's engagement they can only present one option themselves, given that the engagement announcement can't be undone, no matter how much better the next potential mate is, that makes the only eligible match from the Argent clan Allison's father,"

"But the Argents are a matriarchy, that's why he's no longer on the throne,"

"True but in this case the Stag nullifies things like that, just as it does legitimacy,"

Derek gave one, single nod, licking his lips

"We have to find that Stag, come hell or high water,"

 

~+~

 

"I can't believe it's already so close to Beltane,"

"You're about to get alot busier, huh?"

"We both are, Mr. Bodyguard," the Stag snorted

The werewolf gave a slight shrug, humming quietly to himself as he peered behind the curtain of leaves

"Woah, you've got even more people than last year, and it's still just mid-April..."

"Thanks for that Scotty, it isn't like I'm nervous enough already,"

"Stiles really, it isn't anything to get anxious about, you've been doing this since you were thirteen!"

Thirteen... when the previous White Stag of the territory died....

Stiles had taken over his role at that point and never had evolved out of his anxiety when it came to formal events

"I know I know but that doesn't make it easier," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair and heaving a loud, frustrated breath

"Ok.... ok, let's do this, let's get it over with,"

"You'll be fine," Scott chuckled, gently patting Stiles on the back as they walked through the curtain of leaves, Stiles heading towards the throne a few feet away

There was a line of people there- all cleared by the very very few personal staffers he kept- all waiting on _Stiles_

On his power, more accurately, his blessings and gifts for strong marriages and easy births and most of all, potent fertility

Thus was his job as a White Stag...

He leaned back in the throne- created entirely from vines- and waited for the first person to approach

"What can I do for you today?" he asked, trying his best to keep his attitude light and cheerfull- or atleast tolerable- as he addressed the young faun in front of him

"W-Well... my husband and I are trying to have a child, I was wondering if there might be anything you could do to aid us,"

Stiles pushed a smile, giving a slow nod and gently inviting her forward

"Ofcourse,"

 

~+~

 

They were about half-way through the line of people who had come to see the famous White Stag now, not too bad considering how many were out there that morning

Spring was always the busiest time of year, between April and May Stiles couldn't get a break from all the people coming to him for gifts and blessings for their fertility

He was lucky they were getting through the crowd so quickly today to be honest

He couldn't help having to stifle a yawn though, rubbing at his tired eyes as he glanced up towards his next potential client, unfortunately, it wasn't a client that he was met with...

"Hello Stiles," came the slow, sinister voice of the man in front of him

"Theo!" Stiles bit, growling low in his throat as he jumped off of his throne, reaching for his sword as the werewolf stepped closer

"Surprised to see me?"

"How the hell did you get through here?!"

It took him only a moment for Stiles to realize something...

"Where the hell is Scott?! What did you do to him!?"

"Me? Oh, I didn't do _anything_ to him, my freinds on the other hand..."

Stiles cursed under his breath as he held his sword out in front of him, anger boiling in his blood, he knew he shouldn't have let Scott go to refill their water alone...

"I'll kill you!" Stiles shouted at the top of his lungs, rushing forward with his sword poised for impact, only to be suddenly stopped by Theo's hand, the blade resting against his skin but not cutting through it no matter how hard Stiles tried

"What... what the hell...?!"

"Surprised?" Theo cackled, a sickening grin on his face as he shoved the sword backwards, forcing Stiles back a few steps as consequence

Why the hell hadn't his sword made any impact!? What the hell was going on?!!?

"STILES!!"

The Stag jerked his head up, releif pouring through him like water out of a faucet

"SCOTT!"

"Stiles you have to run!" Scott shouted, already half-shifted as he ran towards the two of them

"What!? Scott I'm not-!"

"Run now!!! You can't be taken by him! You can't!! I'll be fine I swear it, just GO!!"

Stiles swallowed tightly, nose wrinkling as he stared at the two of them

He didn't want to, he didn't want to at all... but Scott was right, he couldn't be taken by Theo, if his blood was given to the Raeken line all hell would break loose...

In one quick motion he kicked Theo in the crotch as hard as he possibly could, satisfied to see that it took the wolf by surprise and still brought him enough pain to force him to double over

Scott was right behind him then, wrestling the other wolf to the ground

"GO!!!" Scott screamed again

And, against his better judgement, Stiles followed the order, running into the woods as fast as he possibly could

 

~+~

 

Derek often came to see his people without any indication of who he was

He found that when he came to check on people or visit them dressed as a king, people were nervous, overly polite, insincere...

It was cliche', true, but it was much better to gather information and help out when people just thought he was an average traveler instead of the king...

"That's a very pretty bouquet, where did you get those flowers?"

The little girl in front of him swayed and smiled shyly as she handed the little snatchling of flowers over to him, a grin lacking several missing baby teeth on her face

"In a feild~" she hummed playfully

"Oh really? Do you happen to know what feild?"

Derek never did get his answer

Just a moment after he asked, he heard a frantic, racing heartbeat and jerked his head up, attention turning towards the woods where a beautifull young man came racing out, panting and out of breath, disheveled, stumbling towards them and looking like he was nearly about to collapse

Derek was on his feet in less than a minute, rushing to the other man's side and hurrying to wrap his arms around him to keep him held up

The stranger gently tugged at Derek's shirt, forcing himself to keep standing as he made eye contact with the king

"Thanks..."

"Ofcourse, are you alright?" he frowned skeptically

"Kind of? Ish? I.. I don't know..."

"Come with me," Derek said softly, taking the other man by the arm and starting to lead him towards the nearby tavern

He hoped to get the guy to eat something or at the absolute least get him some water...

"I.. I can't.. I need to help my freind, I.. I need someone to help my freind,"

"Why? What happened?"

"This guy... he attacked me, my .. my freind is still there," the other man replied frantically

Derek frowned tensely, wrapping an arm around the stranger's back protectively as he nudged him towards the tavern again

"Go inside, I'll send some people to find your freind,"

"What? What people? Wa-"

"I travel with a group of warriors, they can help your freind, what does he look like? Where did you last see him?"

"Um... in the woods, about a fifteen minute run in, his name is Scott, he's got dark hair, tan skin, big puppy dog brown eyes, and he's fighting with a pale, tall guy with... with impenetrable skin,"

That caused Derek to pause, color draining from his face as he stared at the other man

"Impenetrable skin...?"

He had no idea what could cause something like that, but he had a feeling that it wan't good...

"Yeah, I tried to cut through it with my sword but he stopped my attack like it was nothing and I didn't so much as scratch him," the stranger frowned back, drawing his sword from it's sheath and scanning the area for a moment before spotting a bail of hay and easily slicing a corner off of it, as if he was slicing through butter

"It clearly wasn't your sword's fault," Derek replied slowly, nearly reading the other's mind

"I'll tell my guys to be extra carefull, and we'll find your freind, I promise, but you look exhausted and frayed, come inside with me and have some water atleast, ok?"

The stranger seemed hesitant, but ultimately agreed, the tension draining out of him as he sheathed his sword and followed Derek into the tavern

 

~+~

 

Stiles knew better than to trust strangers

That had been one of the first and most consistent things about his life- learning that trusting strangers was always a bad idea

But at this point he didn't know what else to do, SOMEONE had to help Scott and this guy seemed like the best option

Plus he seemed pretty docile, not as quick to try to get into Stiles' pants or charm him into doing something he didn't want to do as the others usually seemed

And he was feeding Stiles, wich was good, the Stag was about to eat a table or something from how hungry he was....

"This guy who's pursuing you... who is he?"

Stiles looked up from his food, staring in surprise at the stranger

"Um... a crazy ex," he replied, swallowing the food- and the lump- in his throat

The stranger didn't seem entirely convinced at first, but must have decided it wasn't worth picking at, considering he just went back to his own food a second later

"What's your name?"

"Stiles, you?"

The stranger gave a slight smile, reaching out to shake the Stag's hand

"Derek,"

Derek huh? Where had Stiles heard that before...?

"Derek... nice name," he shrugged, shaking Derek's hand after a slight hesitation

Derek smiled back, finally letting go and taking a sip of his drink

"Thanks, may I ask... what were you doing in the woods when you were attacked?"

"Oh uh... I actually live in the woods," Stiles replied, clearing his throat

"You... live in the woods?"

"Yeah, it's... I find it peacefull out there, I live there with my freind, we were just out picking some vegetables when that crazy freak attacked us,"

"I'm sorry," Derek said sympathetically

"I don't suppose you have any idea when it'll be safe for you to go back?"

"Whenever he's gone I guess, I can't very well go back wile he's skunking around,"

"I understand that," Derek nodded, staying quiet for a moment as he glanced down at the ground, eyes flicking back up to stare at the other man

"I don't suppose you have anywhere else to go?"

"Oh, hell no," Stiles snorted back

Ofcourse not, the only ones who were even supposed to know his identity were Scott and his dad

Scott wasn't available- clearly- and he wasn't about to go to his dad

There was a reason he lived away from his father, he was trying to protect him, keep him away from all of the people that might kill him in their attempts to get to Stiles, and with Theo out there doing exactly that now...

Now was the worst time for him to see his father

"Then... why don't you stay with me until you can get home?"

Stiles nearly choked on his drink, eyes wide and teeth biting into his cheek in the middle of the internal chaos

"W-What?"

This was a horrible idea, red flags going up everywhere, he might as well just put his own head on a silver platter for the guy because it was _blindingly_ obvious that this was a trap but...

But he seemed so sincere and kind of ... weirdly hopefull... and Stiles didn't have too many other choices either

The Glamor he was using now could only last for so long and if he ended up being recognized by someone and just... being out on the streets alone and unprotected, he would be in big trouble

Sure he had his sword and telekinesis and other offensive powers but one person couldn't take on an army, or atleast, he couldn't...

It might be the lesser of two evils...

"Um, sure, that... are you really sure? About inviting a stranger into your home? I mean, why would you want to do that?"

Derek shrugged back, taking another sip of his drink

"You need help, I like helping people, seems like a good fit,"

"How do you know I'm not a theif or something?"

"I don't, but I AM a highly skilled fighter and have an entire team of warriors who would help me find you and kill you if you wronged me,"

Stiles gave a slight breath of releif

It was a normal answer, nothing about Stiles being a Stag, nothing about wanting to please him, just... normal...

Maybe the guy really didn't know

"That's a good point," he agreed

"A REALLY good point,"

 

~+~

 

"Oh my God... you live at the palace?"

Derek couldn't help the slight smirk that came over his face at that reaction

He was always a little bit needlessly proud of people reacting to finding out he lived at the palace

"I do," he replied with a soft hum as the carriage pulled up in front of the entrance to the castle

Stiles seemed anxious about that, wich was understandable, few people were necessarily ready to just show up at the home of the king out of nowhere

"What... what do you do here exactly?"

"Oh um... I'm a knight," Derek shrugged back, deciding to change the subject as quickly as he could to avoid any trouble

"There are plenty of rooms here, there shouldn't be a problem in finding one for you to stay in for a wile,"

"And your boss- you know, the KING- is just... totally fine with you bringing a stranger into his home?"

"Believe me, he'll be fine with it," Derek insisted, holding back a smirk

Stiles seemed somewhat reluctant to believe that at first, but he must have ended up making peace with it regardless as he didn't question it again

"You have a lovely garden," Stiles mused, though it sounded like it was more to himself than it was to Derek

"You like it?"

"Yeah... I love flowers," Stiles mused quietly in return

"Yeah? Well if you want we could go for a stroll, you can even pick some of the flowers, maybe make a bouquet for your freind when we find him,"

"And your boss would be ok with this?" Stiles asked with a skeptical laugh

"I don't think he'll mind, and if he does I promise I'll take the heat,"

Stiles still seemed hesitant on that, but ultimately decided to trust the other man and started off towards the garden, eyes sparkling and twinkling with excitement over every last flower, leaf, and twig

"Wow, you really do have a great garden..."

"Thanks," Derek smiled back shyly, watching the near-stranger wander towards a beautifull bush of Eglantine Roses and start carefully plucking a handfull

"Eglantine Roses huh? 'A wound to heal', nice choice,"

Stiles jerked his head up, a bright, happy smile on his face

"You speak flower language?"

"I do," he replied with a nod

"Wow, I like that in a guy," Stiles smirked back

Derek felt a wave of warmth bloom in his chest, a shy smile making it's way across his face

No one had ever admired his knowledge about flowers before....

"Thank you... c'mon, let's go see if we can find some Angrec, I know it isn't really a flower but I think the king would want to wish your freind well,"

Stiles just smiled wider, standing up straight and leaning a little closer to Derek

"Sounds good,"

 

~+~

 

No more than two minutes after Derek opened the door to the palace and stepped inside, Erica came running, shouting that there was an urgent matter that needed his assistance

With heavy reluctance he handed Stiles off to one of the guards, insisting that the boy be given complete hospitality and shown to one of the spare bedrooms to relax, before heading into the war room with Erica

He barely had the door shut before she dropped the bomb on him

"The Stag is gone,"

And just like that, Derek's world caved in

"What the hell do you mean 'the Stag is gone'!? How can he just be gone!?"

"Someone attacked him, his personal guard fought the guy off but the Stag ran and no one knows where he went,"

Derek cursed, slamming his hand down on the table and hanging his head miserably

"One chance... I had ONE chance to make things right and I lost it before I even started trying...."

"Don't give up yet, someone could still find him, I mean he can't have gotten too far, especially not without someone seeing him, he was right there in the forest, how far could he have gone!?"

Derek only shook his head, massaging his temples with frustration and cursing under his breath

"Do we know who attacked him?"

After all, who would be crazy enough to attack a White Stag?

They were sacred, almost as sacred as unicorns, and with the added bonus of being almost guaranteed royalty, you'd have to be a real idiot to try to hurt one

"No, but we found the Stag's personal guard, he's recovering in the infirmary now, he said that the attacker had 'impenetrable skin' but that's all he would say,"

Derek froze, slowly turning towards his advisor and inhaling

"Impenetrable skin? ... You wouldn't happen to have the guard's name would you?"

"Yeah, it's Scott... why?"

Derek swallowed, curling his fingers into fists

"Because we already have the Stag here,"

 

~+~

 

Stiles had just finished getting the flowers wrapped in a nice ribbon he had found in one of the drawers in the spare room when Derek suddenly threw the door open, looking like he had just seen a ghost

....

Or a Stag

"We found your freind,"

And all of a sudden weather or not Derek knew who he was didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was that Scott was safe- atleast... presumably

"Is he ok? Is he alive?"

"He's fine, he's fine, we have him here at our infirmary, he's a little banged up but he's alright,"

Stiles licked his lips, nodding slowly and staring down at the ground

"Thank you.... thank you so much, I promise we'll get out of your hair just as soon as-"

"Don't worry about it, I'm serious, you should stay as long as you want, let your freind recover fully before going back out, you don't even know if that guy who attacked you is still at your home or not right?"

"Well... no-"

"So stay here, please,"

Stiles could hear it- the slight tremor in Derek's voice, the telltale sign that he knew too much...

And Stiles couldn't play dumb anymore, he had to confront him now, handle this before it got too late

"Yeah... alright, I'll stay, but you have to answer a question for me first,"

Derek's eyebrows raised in confusion, head tilting to the side

"Um.... alright?"

In the blink of an eye Stiles had drawn his sword, blade pointing now at Derek's throat and anger and malice alight in his eyes

"How long have you known?"

"Known what!?" Derek shouted with a combination of panic and frustration

"You know what!! How long have you known that I'm the Stag!?"

Derek deflated slightly, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes

"Only for a few minutes, I SWEAR it, I just found out,"

"Who else knows?"

"Just Erica, my advisor, no one else," he swore

Stiles was silent for a few moments before very slowly, hesitantly, lowering his sword and sliding it back in it's sheath

"I assume you want me to marry you so you can keep your throne?" he spat with frustration

"No... no I swear, nothing like that,"

Stiles narrowed his eyes a little more, tilting his head skeptically

"No...?"

"No, I do want your help but... can you please, please just hear me out? Over dinner?"

Stiles considered it for a few moments, weighing his options in his head before allowing himself to relax just a touch more

"Alright... over dinner, you can make your case, but that's all I promise for now,"

"And that's all I ask," Derek confirmed with a clear sigh of releif

Stiles watched him leave then, stepping out of the room and pausing in the doorway

"I'll be back in about an hour,"

Stiles didn't answer him, only decided to stare down at the floor instead

 

~+~

 

Ever since Stiles was a child, he had been warned about people who may take advantage of him

He had been told why he had to hide, keep his powers- and his species, more importantly- a secret, and be immensely cautious around royalty

He knew that most people only wanted him for his power- for the prosperity that marrying him to their clan would bring, nearly everyone except Scott, in fact...

He wasn't surprised at this turn of events, he knew that sooner or later he was going to end up being taken against his will, and atleast the Hales were ASKING him to stay instead of just kidnapping him...

He knew this time would come, he just didn't know if he was ready to deal with it yet or not...

"Alright, plead your case," he said simply as he leaned back in his chair

The Hales- atleast, Derek and the three women sitting next to him- all looked far more concerned than Stiles really thought they would

Good, if he wasn't going to be comfortable, then they shouldn't be either

"We need you to marry into our clan," Derek blurted out

"Thought so," Stiles huffed

"No, you don't- ... it isn't what you think,"

"So you DON'T want to marry me so your clan will prosper and you can lord it over all of the others?"

"No! No ... we just... we just want to survive, recently Allison Argent became engaged to a Morrigan, with that kind of power at their disposal they can and WILL easily destroy what's left of our's,"

"Unless you stop them by marrying higher and gaining the upper hand," Stiles assumed

"Correct,"

Stiles leaned back, contemplating that for a few moments

He had met the Argents before, not one of his favorite clans for sure

The Queen, Allison, was pretty nice, but he couldn't say the same for the others

They were still operating by the old-world ideals that supernatural folk had no place in society (and yet ironically still wanted to use who they could of those supernatural folk to gain power and destroy the other clans)

Stiles definitely knew that he couldn't let the Argents get one up on everyone else, but he was still hesitant to just hop in a marriage bed because of it

"I'm listening," he said after a moment

"My sister Cora, my cousin Malia, and my advisor Erica- who has volunteered to take the Hale name- are all... candidates... if you would be willing to court one of them,"

Stiles was quiet for a few moments, eyebrows raising in curiosity

"Yet, you the king aren't a viable candidate? You realize if I were to marry one of them the throne would be yanked right out from under your butt right?"

"I'm aware," Derek answered simply

"And you're ok with that?"

"I think my kingdom would be better off without me as the king anyhow,"

Stiles was quiet for a moment, thinking over those words long and hard

"You know, the funny thing is, a bad king never would have said that," he noted

Derek frowned, eyebrows pinching together and nose wrinkling

"What-"

"Are you in love with someone else?" Stiles asked suddenly

"What? No-"

"And are you opposed to marriage, children, having a husband, or wearing flower crowns?"

The frown on Derek's face was growing tenser by the moment

"No,"

"Then it's settled,"

"What's settled?" Cora asked with an annoyed frown- ah, so that was a family trait

"I'll court Derek, that's it, that's as far as I'm willing to go, I want to help with this Argent thing, I do, but I can't risk making a rash decision or marrying the wrong person, you understand right?"

"Is this some kind of joke to you!?" Derek growled in frustration

"I'm pretty sure I just told you that this is anything BUT a joke to me,"

"Then why-"

"Because I already liked you before all of this, when we were ... unaware of eachother, I liked you, and because it's clear to me that you AREN'T a power hungry person if you're not only WILLING- but ENCOURAGING to give your throne away, that's an important thing to me, I'm willing to court you for a week on four conditions, I'll make my decision when the week is up,"

Derek was quiet for a moment, his face suddenly clouding over with a heavy sense of responsibility and submission

He knew that this was the best possible choice for his clan, his pack, his kingdom... hell for the supernatural world at large even, and he was going to see it through no matter what his personal hang ups about it were

"What are your conditions?"

"Well the first one should go without saying but just in case- Scott will get the best treatment available wile he's here,"

"Obviously,"

"Good, second, Theo Raeken is the one who caused all of this, if I'm going to court you, I don't want the Raekens anywhere near here,"

"I think Cora already took care of that," Derek replied simply

"The third one is really more of an offer than a condition but.... basically, I'll help you _handle_ the Argents if you help me _handle_ the Raekens,"

"Deal, with our sincere gratitude, and your last condition?"

"I don't want special treatment, I don't want you to act like you're courting a king or a Stag or ... hell anyone important, just treat me normally, like you did earlier.... _please_ ,"

Derek seemed to understand the unusual request- thankfully- as a sympathetic look washed over his face and his shoulders sagged

"I promise,"

"Good," Stiles replied with a nod, standing up from the table despite the fact that he hadn't eaten

"I'm going to go check on Scott, I'll see you all in the morning,"

 

~+~

 

To be honest, Derek really didn't know what the hell he was doing

He hadn't been prepared for this- any of it

He didn't know what Stiles wanted out of him or how to act or how to charm the Stag into his favor....

He didn't know any of it

But if there was one thing he DID know- or atleast, he was relatively sure of- it was that no one could be in a good mood on an empty stomach

So he was standing here, outside of Stiles' room with a tray of food, anxiously waiting for the Stag to open the door

"I did say 'in the morning' you know," Stiles said as he cracked the door open, already dressed in some spare night attire that one of the maids had given him

"You didn't eat dinner," Derek replied simply

Stiles actually seemed rather... surprised by his reason for being there, face perking for a moment before sinking into a thoughtfull look and finally sliding the door open for Derek to come inside

"Wow, you brought me food, is it because you're courting me or because I'm a king?"

"Because you're a guest," Derek corrected, setting the tray on the nightstand by the bed

Stiles hummed, taking a grape out of the bowl of fruit and popping it in his mouth

"I see... awfully hospitable," he mused simply

"Did Scott like the flowers?" Derek asked, deciding not to address the other king's comment

"He did, he wants me to thank you for helping him so... thank you,"

"It wasn't me, just my guards," Derek shrugged back, moving to sit in one of the chairs across the room

"See, why do you do that? Put yourself down that way? You aren't a horrible king or a horrible Alpha Derek, no matter what you think, and I have proof of that,"

Derek didn't seem to believe that much, if the distasted look on his face said anything about it

"For the record, I'm sorry about this... force-courting thing," he said after a moment, apparently trying to change the subject

"Yeah well, sorry for the same, but.... royalty right? What can we do about it?"

"Not much," Derek decided with a shrug, watching as Stiles took a few, slow steps closer towards him, sitting down in the chair across from him

"So, out of curiosity, why didn't you just give your throne to Cora if you hated being king so much? I mean, Alphas can hand-me-down their powers willingly, and in werewolf culture a king or queen has to be an Alpha, so if you gave Cora your Alpha status she would become queen right?"

"Technically yes, but there's a huge risk that Cora would have the throne taken from her under grounds of instability,"

"Yeah I remember hearing about that... out of curiosity, what did Theo say that made her break his nose?" he asked curiously, leaning back in his chair

"He said it was a good thing Laura was dead, because I wouldn't last long as king and Cora was too unstable to be queen, so the Hale line would fall soon, looks like he was atleast half right, I'm not a good king, and even though Cora WOULD be a good queen, she wouldn't make it long with the politicians looking to tear her down, and honestly... they likelihood is that our clan won't last much longer,"

Stiles frowned, reaching out and gently taking Derek's hand

"I won't let your clan fall Derek, no matter who I marry, I won't let anything happen to you guys,"

Derek's lips turned up in something of a partial smile, face turning a light shade of pink

"Thank you..."

"Ofcourse, but just so we're clear, you are NOT a bad king, you're a GOOD king, and I don't want to hear you ever putting yourself down again, understand?"

Derek snorted, eyes rolling as he leaned back in his chair

"Yes Sir,"

"Ohhhh I like that, keep that in mind for any potential wedding nights,"

Derek shook his head, rising up and starting for the door

"Goodnight Stiles,"

The Stag waited, listening for the tell-tale click of the door shutting, before smiling sadly to himself

"Goodnight to you too Derek...."

 

~+~

 

A loud thud hit the table, rocking the dishes around it as Derek stood intimidatingly overhead

"Mirror Lake,"

Stiles looked up slowly, a spoonfull of oatmeal in his mouth as he tilted his head up

"Um.... what?"

"Mirror. Lake. It's how Theo made his skin impenetrable,"

Stiles swallowed the food in his mouth, leaning back and nodding in consideration

"Yeah.... I remember my mom telling me about that when I was a kid, supposedly it's this magical lake that can make you stronger, though she never specified how,"

"Apparently it varies from person to person as to what you would define as 'strength', but if you touch the water, it'll grant you extra power, impenatrable skin is one of the potential gifts,"

"Great, so how the hell are we supposed to fight him then?!" Stiles huffed back in frustration

"Calm down, there's a viable solution here, we just need him to touch the water a second time, if he does that he'll not only lose the extra strength he gained the first time, he'll lose his supernatural healing too,"

"What? How does that work?"

"The Mirror Lake is called a mirror for a reason, it's a reflection, the first time it gives, the second time it does the exact opposite- it takes, whatever it gave, it takes back plus half more,"

"Ok... ok, I think I get it,"

"Good, so now all we have to do is find the lake and get some of the water, from there things should actually be pretty easy, only problem ofcourse is actually finding the lake..."

Stiles nodded slowly, staying quiet for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck

"I... might have a way to do that,"

"Really? What is it?" Derek asked urgently, eyes wide and practically desperate as he leaned in closer

"You're not gonna like it..."

 

~+~

 

Several hours later, the door opened to reveal a beautifull strawberry blonde decked out in clearly royal attire

"Stiles," she said briskly

"Lydia," he returned just as curtly

They were both quiet for a moment before breaking into smiles and leaning forward to exchange a long, happy hug

"I've missed you," he said softly

"I've missed you too,"

"Is she the same Morrigan that's going to marry the Argent girl?" Derek interrupted

"See? I told you you wouldn't like it," Stiles shrugged back simply

"I thought you were an enemy of the Argents," Derek noted

"I wouldn't say 'enemy', I told you that I'm not necessarily fond of them, I like Allison pretty well, and her dad is ok, it's the others I can't stand,"

Derek didn't quite seem impressed, heaving a sigh as he turned away and started leading them towards the war room

"Right..." he said slowly

"Look, Lydia can help us ok? We're freinds, she doesn't want me to be forced into a marriage,"

"And to be fair, I don't want to see the Argents in full power either," she added

"Then why did you get engaged to the Queen, thus putting them in perfect position to become the most powerfull of all of us?"

"Because I was confident that Stiles would get married first, thus making the implications of my own marriage null and void, I'm not marrying Allison to help her gain more power, I'm doing it because I love her," she explained, heading towards the table

"I'm not getting married until winter, just so you guys know, might I recommend a fall wedding?"

Derek just sighed, shaking his head with mild frustration

"Do you know how to get us to the lake or not?"

"I can do better than that, I can tell you EXACTLY where it is,"

"Really?" Derek asked with amazement, eyes wide and curious

"I told you we needed her," Stiles smirked back

"Ofcourse," Lydia said with a quick nod

"I'm just going to need a map and a pendulum,"

 

~+~

 

"I can't believe it, there it is..."

"The Mirror Lake," Derek said quietly

Stiles took a slow step forward, biting the inside of his lip as he drew his sword from his sheath

"You ready for this?" the werewolf asked quietly

Stiles glanced over his shoulder at him and gave a single, sure nod as he started walking towards the water

It was night now, the carriage ride having taken them several hours, and the moon was gleaming off of the sword and the lake

Stiles' heart was pounding faster as he started walking towards the water, only for the sound of snapping twigs to distract him and force him to turn on his heel, color draining from his face as he stared across at the woods

"I knew you'd leave the Hales eventually Stag, and it looks like I didn't have to wait long,"

"Theo..." Stiles spat, recognizing the voice with ease

He watched in growing anxiety as the other werewolf approached from the woods, finally stepping into the light.... and revealing that he wasn't alone

"Cora!!" Derek shouted in terror, practically trembling as he watched Theo stick a blade against his little sister's neck

"I found this one in the gardens training with a dagger, she doesn't seem to be too skilled with it," Theo chuckled

"Let her go!!!" Stiles shouted with anger

"Not until you and I make a deal, I'm not leaving here without you Stag! You're going to marry me or I'm going to slit the princess's throat,"

Stiles swallowed, taking a slow step forward

"Fine, I'll marry you, now let her go,"

"Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to fall for that?" Theo scoffed with a laugh

"Anyone could just change their mind later, your word means nothing,"

"Well what do you want from me then!? Do you have an aisle and a preist to roll out or something!?"

"Drop the sword, and pick up the pen," Theo replied simply, nudging Cora as the princess reluctantly took a scroll, a quill, and a bottle of ink out of the bag across her waist, dropping them to the ground and staring apologetically at the White Stag

"What is this?" Stiles wispered, dropping the sword as ordered and picking up the scroll

"A marriage contract, it's completely legally binding! That way, no matter how far you run, or who tries to hide you, I WILL still have you, if you run my knights will catch you, if someone tries to hide you they'll be arrested, I may not be able to hurt you physically, but even YOU can't escape legal bonds, now... sign the contract, or I'll slit her throat,"

Stiles swallowed tensely, bending down slowly and picking up the quill, popping the lid off of the bottle and dipping the quill into the ink

"You're making the right choice Stiles," Theo said with a sickening, smug, smirk

"I know I am," Stiles said softly, glancing up as a raven suddenly passed over Theo's head and poured a sack of water over him along the way

In that moment he dropped the pen, the ink falling to the ground as a sadistic smirk crossed over his lips

The werewolf screamed and cursed, his hold loosening as Cora bit hard into his arm, causing him to let out another scream as blood started trickling from the wound and the princess jammed her elbow into his gut

When Theo hunched over she easily maneuvered her way out of his grasp, running to Derek's side and drawing her brother's blade from it's sheath

"What the hell!?" Theo shouted

"Thanks Lydia," Stiles purred, watching out of the corner of his eye as the Morrigan- better known as a raven- shifted back into her human form

"Ofcourse," she smirked back

"We knew you'd follow us here, so we sent a little birdy out ahead," Derek added in

"You...!! You'll pay for this!" Theo shouted in anger, drawing his sword from it's sheath

"No," Stiles replied lowly, dangerously, his eyes glowing a bright, almost silver-blue white

"You will,"

Stiles' form began to shift, an incredibly bright white glow surrounding him as his body shifted from that of a human's to that of a Stag's

An incredibly massive Stag wich easily towered over Derek and Theo

Theo swallowed, charging at the Stag as Stiles raked his hoof against the ground and charged forward as well

A splash of blood decorated the ground in an instant, even splattering into the lake, as the Hales winced and watched with horror as the Stag's antlers gored through the other king

And with no werewolf healing to kick in, the mortal wounds quickly turned fatal, killing the man in an instant as Stiles gave his head a shake and tossed the body to the ground, shifting back into his human form only a few moments later

"Are you guys ok?" he asked softly, turning his attention towards the Hale siblings

"We're fine," Cora said instantly, almost too quickly, as she glanced up at her brother

"We're fine," Derek confirmed a second later

"Good," Stiles sighed in releif, walking towards his discarded sword and picking it up right as Lydia started to speak

"Want me to get rid of the body?"

"No... cut off the head and burn it, we'll take the body back to Court to show what happens when you try to take a Stag away from his family,"

"Family?" Derek asked slowly, voice undoubtedly a little hopefull

Stiles smiled softly at him, placing his sword back in it's sheath as he headed towards him

"Family, I accept your courtship Derek, and I'll marry you whenever you ask me to, on one condition,"

"And what condition would that be?"

"That you stop being so hard on yourself, for God's sake, no more of that 'I'm a terrible king' crap ok?" Stiles smirked

Derek let out a breath of releif, smiling warmly back at the Stag and giving him a slow nod of agreement before taking a step closer, bridging the gap between them

"Sounds like a plan to me, your Majesty,"

Stiles chuckled, wrapping his arms around Derek's neck and leaning in for a kiss

"Please.... 'Sir' or 'Husband' will do just fine,"


End file.
